An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little or no user input. An autonomous vehicle senses its environment using sensing devices such as radar, lidar, image sensors, and the like. The autonomous vehicle system further uses information from global positioning systems (GPS) technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems to navigate the vehicle.
Vehicle automation has been categorized into numerical levels ranging from Zero, corresponding to no automation with full human control, to Five, corresponding to full automation with no human control. Various automated driver-assistance systems, such as cruise control, adaptive cruise control, and parking assistance systems correspond to lower automation levels, while true “driverless” vehicles correspond to higher automation levels.
Due to the sheer number of different variables in a real-world environment, an autonomous vehicle control system could encounter an environment or scenario where assistance may be desired during the decision-making process. For example, road construction, road closures, and other obstacles or scenarios can be encountered that inhibit the ability of the control system to arrive at a solution for how to autonomously operate the vehicle in the context of lane boundaries or other restrictions or constraints for which compliance is sought. While a vehicle occupant could manually control or operate the vehicle in some instances, such a solution introduces a burden on a rider that is somewhat contrary to the intent of an autonomous vehicle. Utilizing remote assistance or remote control of the vehicle has also been proposed as a manner of resolving scenarios where the autonomous vehicle control system is unable to arrive at a satisfactory control solution. However, reliance on remote assistance also entails concerns about latencies or delays, communications reliability or interruptions, and the like. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide vehicle control systems and methods that are capable of autonomously resolving a scenario when the normal control scheme is unable to arrive at a satisfactory solution for how to autonomously operate the vehicle. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.